Santalamore

Beautifully blended. The opening is strongly fig leaf for me, it’s green and lovely but doesn’t really smell like soap. Doesn’t smell clean necessarily, but fresh and alive like you've been outside. After about 15 minutes, the oceany vibe of ambergris starts to say hello, gets a little softer and slightly warm. Skin scent after about 45 minutes and then disappears pretty quickly. I think it is genderless and season-less, suited for daytime. Love it but do wish the performance was better.

I love this fragrance the best way I can explain it is like a really fresh clean soap smell but like an artisanal hand cut soap. The sandalwood and green notes give herbal fresh hints but the musk, amber and ambergris ground and round everything out to make this really well balanced. As a femme I enjoy wearing this and I would also enjoy this on a man like I could picture a man fresh out of the shower at a gym like equinox leaving a trail of this in the air as they walk by.

I got a sample of Santalamore a while back and instantly was intrigued. It’s more of a “green” floral if that makes sense. It is kind of like a bright green Chypre imo. Conceptually interesting, and well balanced with quality ingredients. It’s not your typical sandalwood fragrance. I wish it came in 50 ml bottles. The guy who owns the company is self taught in perfumery I believe, he has a YouTube channel where he talks about his work which was cool.

Top-notch quality ingredients here. To me, it's more of a green ambery scent than a floral sandal one. Tried it at work in a dry, very cold day (-5o/5oC). The opening is a burst of green freshness with bright touches. I get a bit of the petitgrain, but it's mostly the fig leaf that stands out. About 30 min later, a creamy matcha tea pops out heavily which is the least favorite part of this scent, but it's just me that I'm not quite a friend of matcha tea, neither with the smell nor the taste. I would have preferred a more subdued tea that allowed the floral aspect of the neroli and linden blossom to be more prominent. 2h later and a slightly woody ambergris starts to overcome the other notes, changing from a fresh green scent into an ambery one. This evolution completes about 5h after initial spray, and what it's left is an ambergris bomb with a likeable weird clean/dirty feeling that slowly fades away, becoming a skin scent at around 7h, and being pretty much vanished at 11h mark. It's more of a spring/summer scent, but it can also work in the coldest months in more warmer climates like mine. And for sure it's for the day, too bright for the night of cloudy/foggy days. But its price is an issue. Not because it's above of what it delivers, but because it abuses super expensive ingredients that put its price (+500€ for 100ml) unnecessary into luxury realm... Yes, there is rare ambergris handily picked from Ireland shores and one of the most expensive sandalwood oils in the world. But such high use of these rare ingredients feels more for the sake of it rather than a meaningful purpose, and I believe using a greater portion of synthetic equivalents would dramatically drop the price while keeping the essence and quality of the fragrance. EDIT (15/03/2025): Tested it several times now that weather is warmer (8-20oC). First thing noticed, that green harshness has been softened, and the fragrance smells much better blended. So yeah, 2 months of maceration has done wonders. Now the florals are more noticeable and the green freshness is more balanced. The fragrance has definitely a casual/leisure vibe and shines in sunny warm days. I got 0 compliments, so it's more of a fragrance for yourself than for others. The performance is slightly worse now that the weather is warmer, but it's still very good and above average. Anyway, Santalamore costs 155€ in my country for only 30ml. For a daily spring/summer fragrance suited for casual occasions and only enjoyed by me... Not worth to go for the full bottle, but still a nice discover. I've also found Silver Birch from Amouroud, which happens to be very similar to Santalamore. Both being floral woody fig fragrances, smelling green, fresh, smooth and creamy. And, curiously, both having white bottles with warm colour metal cap and plate. While being more synthetic, Silver Birch keeps the expected niche qualities and I find it better executed. Lasts a bit longer, projects a bit better, suits all seasons and both day and night, has a more formal/classy profile that makes it more versatile, and doesn't include anything with offputting potential like the harsh green or the ambergris of Santalamore.

perfumes with ambergris develop a bit strangely on my skin. All in all, I think it's a great perfume for lovers of fig and creamy ambergris and yellow flower perfumes, but it doesn't quite suit me. Scent: 8 Longevity: 10 Sillage: 7 Versatility: 8 Originality: 9 Overall: 8